Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas holds a photo of a knife like the one used in the deaths of homeless men in Orange County, during a news conference at his office in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – The Iraq war veteran arrested Friday as he ran from a strip mall where a homeless man was stabbed to death has been charged with the serial killings of four homeless men, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at a news conference Tuesday.

Itzcoatl "Izzy" Ocampo, 23, of Yorba Linda, also was charged with special circumstances of committing multiple murders and lying in wait, which could lead to a death sentence.

"He's a monster," Rackauckas told reporters. "This 23-year-old man was a vicious killer. He had it in his mind to kill people, and he followed through with that intent.

"We will be proving that the defendant planned the murders in advance, stalked his victims looking for the right opportunity to execute them."

Rackauckas said that Ocampo intended to continue with his killing spree and had specific targets selected: "He wasn't done."

Defense attorney Randall Longwith said in an interview Tuesday that he is exploring the possibility of an insanity defense but does not have enough information yet. Longwith said he was initially denied a visit with his client several times by jailers Tuesday and was told Ocampo is too "mentally unstable" to see him. The Fullerton attorney was allowed a brief visit with Ocampo Tuesday afternoon.

Ocampo is being held without bail in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana. Longwith said he has been retained by the defendant's mother, Lilia Ocampo.

In his news conference, Rackauckas said the killer targeted his last victim, a Bible-reading, easy-going, popular fixture in the shopping mall at La Palma Avenue and Imperial Highway in Anaheim Hills because the homeless man was identified by name in a photograph published in the Los Angeles Times as he was being warned by Anaheim police that there was a serial killer targeting homeless people.

Ocampo "relished the media attention of the crime," Rackauckas said, "and he stalked the victim until he got his prey."

The former Marine even drove through two checkpoints – one set up the night of the fourth killing – and passed the scrutiny of officers seeking information about the serial killer, Rackauckas said.

The first three victims are believed to have been killed by the same 7-inch knife, described as a KA-Bar Bull Dozer knife, Rackauckas said, which crushed the victims' bones. A knife matching that description was found near the crime scene of the last killing.

The last victim, John Berry, was stabbed multiple times in the upper torso and face.

Police took a report about Berry's suspicions that he was being stalked or followed by someone the day before he was killed, but he told police he felt he could defend himself and did not want to go into a shelter, Anaheim Police Chief John Welter said at the news conference.

"In each of these cases, the number of stab wounds increased," Rackauckas said. "I became increasingly concerned about the viciousness of the attacks. I wondered whether this murderer would ever quench his thirst to kill and who his next victim might be."

Rackauckas was flanked by the police chiefs of Anaheim, Brea and Placentia, as well as representatives of the FBI and the Orange County Sheriff's Department. All five agencies participated in the serial-killer task force.

Ocampo was arrested Friday moments after Berry was stabbed to death near a trash enclosure behind a Carl's Jr. fast-food restaurant in Anaheim Hills.

Several people chased Ocampo as he ran west on La Palma Avenue. They pointed him out to responding Anaheim officers, who swarmed the neighborhood when the 911 call came in that another homeless man was being attacked.

Hundreds of police cordoned off streets, placing yellow tape around pivotal areas near the crime scene and surrounding Ocampo, who was handcuffed and placed on a curb about a quarter of a mile from the Carl's Jr.

Ocampo was found with blood on his hands and face when taken into custody.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas holds a photo of a knife like the one used in the deaths of homeless men in Orange County, during a news conference at his office in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas walks past the photos of the four homeless men who had been found killed as he leaves a news conference Tuesday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas spoke Tuesday morning during a news conference in Santa Ana on the deaths of four homeless men and the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo. Rackauckas stood with representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other Orange County law enforcement departments. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Members of the media photograph portraits of the slain homeless men during a news conference at the District Attorney's Office in Santa Ana on Tuesday. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 1, James McGillivray, found dead at 140 N. Bradford Ave. in Placentia. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 2, Lloyd "Jimmy" Middaugh, found dead under an overpass of the 91 freeway in Anaheim. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 3, Paulus "Dutch" Smit, found dead at the Yorba Linda Public Library. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 4, John Berry, found dead on La Palma Avenue in Anaheim. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Itzcoatl Ocampo, arrested in connection in the deaths of four homeless men in Orange County. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas walks by the photos of the four homeless men that had been found killed as he enters a news conference in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas spoke Tuesday morning during a news conference on the deaths of four homeless men and the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo. Rackauckas stood along with and representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other Orange County law enforcement departments. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, center, spoke Tuesday morning during a news conference on the deaths of four homeless men and the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Anaheim Chief of Police John Welter spoke briefly during a news conference at the Orange County District Attorney's Office in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning about the deaths of four homeless men and the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo, as Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas left looks on. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas spoke Tuesday morning during a news conference on the deaths of four homeless men and the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A photograph of homeless victim No. 4, John Berry, right, along with the photos of the three other homeless men that had been found killed were on display as Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas spoke Tuesday morning during a news conference. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas answers a question concerning the deaths of four homeless men and the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo on Tuesday morning during a news conference. Mark Rightmire, The Orange County Register
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas walks past a photo of Itzcoatl Ocampo, the man arrested in connection in the death of four homeless men that had been found in Orange County, as he leaves a news conference. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A photo of a knife, like the one used in the deaths of homeless men in Orange County, was on display during a news conference Tuesday. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Photographs of the homeless men killed in Orange County, were on display during a during news conference. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 1, James McGillivray, found dead at 140 N. Bradford Ave. in Placentia. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 2, Lloyd "Jimmy" Middaugh, found dead at under an overpass of the 91 freeway in Anaheim. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 3, Paulus "Dutch" Smit, found dead at the Yorba Linda Public Library. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Homeless victim No. 4, John Berry, found dead on La Palma Avenue in Anaheim. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Police arrested Itzcoatl Ocampo on Friday evening, shortly after the fourth stabbing. Witnesses to the attack behind a Carl's Jr. restaurant in Anaheim Hills chased the suspect, police said. One told investigators he saw a huge knife being used in the attack. RICHARD KOEHLER, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Heather Smit Rayo, left, and her sister, Julia Smit-Lozano, reminisce about their father, Paulus Cornelius Smit, at the site of a memorial in a stairwell behind the Yorba Linda Library where he was found stabbed to death on Dec 30. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, a former Marine who served a 2008 tour in Iraq, is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday and is expected to face murder charges. Police say they are confident he is the killer whose attacks sent chills through the homeless community and prompted a regional manhunt. MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
"I'm sorry, Papa," Julia Smit-Lozano, right, said at the site of a memorial in a stairwell behind the Yorba Linda Public Library where her father, Paulus Cornelius Smit, was found stabbed to death on Dec 30. Her sister, Heather Smit Rayo, left, is by her side. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Heather Smit Rayo holds an old photograph of her father, Paulus Cornelius Smit, his wife, Julie Hansen, and daughters Nicole, left, and Julie, at the site of a memorial in a stairwell behind the Yorba Linda Library where he was found stabbed to death on Dec 30. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Heather Smit Rayo holds an old photograph of her father with his wife, Julie Hansen, and daughters, Julia, Nicole and Heather Smit, at the site of a memorial in a stairwell behind the Yorba Linda Library where he was found stabbed to death on Dec 30. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Heather Smit Rayo places candles at the site of a memorial in a stairwell behind the Yorba Linda Public Library where her father, Paulus Cornelius Smit, was stabbed to death on Dec 30. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A grainy still photo cropped from a video frame shows a shadowy figure, upper right, dressed in black and wearing a hoody sweatshirt, approaching Placentia stabbing victim James McGillivray, who was found slain on Dec. 21. The image was released Jan. 3 by the Homeless Homicide Investigative Task Force. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT
Itzcoatl Ocampo reads "Green Eggs and Ham" for his little sister on a video he made to send home from his duty in Iraq. Ocampo, 23, a former Marine who served a 2008 tour in Iraq, is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday and is expected to face murder charges. Police say they are confident he is the killer whose attacks sent chills through the homeless community and prompted a regional manhunt. BRUCE CHAMBERS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
James McGillivray, 53, the first of the four stabbing victims was killed on Dec. 20 as he slept outside a shopping center in Placentia. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT
Lloyd Middaugh, 42, the second stabbing victim was found on the Santa Ana River Trail, near the 91 freeway in Anaheim, on Dec. 28. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT
Paulus Cornelius Smit, 57, the third stabbing victim, was slain Dec. 30 behind the Yorba Linda Public Library. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT
A picture of a beloved homeless man known as John Berry, who was stabbed to death Friday night, is taped up behind a Carl's Jr. at Imperial Highway and La Palma Avenue, in Anaheim, Calif. on Sunday. Berry used to live at a Anaheim park until he was mugged, according to Yaza Alougah of Anaheim. Berry then moved and lived along the Santa Ana River Trail in Anaheim. CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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